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Nereus in the News – Friday, February 2

“Along the arid coastline of northwestern Mexico, indigenous Seri communities, who first resisted Spanish rule and then Mexican extermination efforts, eventually gained formal titles over a small part of their ancestral coastal and marine territories. The ocean has always sustained their livelihood, but now they must contend with outside competition over declining fish resources,” write Nereus Director of Policy Yoshitaka Ota and Program Manager Andrés Cisneros-Montemayor, in a recent piece on The Conversation.

“This is a familiar story for almost 30 million coastal indigenous peoples around the world from the Arctic to the South Pacific. But until recently no one had ever quantified how intensively they relied on seafood, or its importance for their existence as distinct peoples.”

“The rate of warming is faster in the Arctic than the global average and triggers multiple stresses on the Arctic Ocean ecosystem including an increase of invasive species, a rise in ocean acidity and increased human activity brought about by the expansion of commercial fishing fleets as sea ice cover decreases,” writes Lam. “These changes are resulting in fluctuations in the quantity, quality and predictability of catches, all of which have direct implications for the economics of fisheries in the Arctic.” Read more on page 14.

“After we compiled all the data, the first thing that struck us was that we would be seeing really different fish on a sushi table in a couple of decades time,” said William Cheung, Nereus Director of Science. “Some of the fish that we can easily get in the average sushi restaurant across the street may not be so easy to get in the future, as they become really premium fish.”

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THE NEREUS PROGRAM

The Nereus Program strives to explore a broad range of perspectives and scientific opinions on ocean sustainability, and to create an inclusive community of researchers and other marine professionals. This principle is founded on the Nippon Foundation’s vision of global capacity building to ensure that our oceans’ legacy is preserved and potential is protected for future generations.